when i was little my dad didn't let us watch much television, preferring us to use our time 'constructively', but my mother would sometimes let us watch a bit before he got home from work. i remember that when we heard his car pulling into the driveway, my brothers would spring from their chairs and yell 'CHEESE IT! DAD'S HOME! DO SOMETHING CONSTRUCTIVE!'. being nine years younger than they are, my vocabulary and logic was not near as developed as theirs and my immediate reaction to their cry was to get out some construction paper and my wee scissors and start cutting and pasting which, though not exactly what my father meant, was in itself constructive.
with that, here's another constructive use of construction paper :)
i posted some of artist Wayne White's extraordinary paintings back in january of last year. i'm a huge fan of his work and am thoroughly excited to see this documentary. you are too. i promise.
i found these videos ages ago and had forgotten all about them. U900 is a Japanese ukulele duo who make strange and adorable crochet videos. made me smile. hope it makes you smile too! have a wonderful weekend! xo
it kinda feels like friday today even though it's only tuesday. maybe cause it's beautiful outside and i'm sleepin over at my friend's house tonight :) regardless, since it feels like friday, i don't see why we can't pretend it is. so here's some friday tunes! i saw Radio Dept. play at the Horseshoe here in Toronto last Sunday. great show.
there is no excuse for my lack of posting as of late, other than the burgeoning spring. stick with me my dear readers, i'll be back to my regular schedule in no time, i promise! in the meantime, here's a video treat - a young and otherworldly beautiful Elvis performing live on television for the first time after his return from the army. ole blue eyes' speach is dubbed in spanish, but this was the clearest version i could find on youtube :) tell me you don't swoon when you watch this. i won't believe you. i don't care who y'are.
i've been a fan of Cat Stevens since i was 8 years old, when my older brother came back from Junior Rangers all teenage cool and come-of-age, blasting new anthems from his tape deck, the likes of which i'd never heard. i've been a fan of my dog Rudy for three years now, 21 if you're asking her. so yesterday when i came across one of Cat's songs i hadn't yet heard called I Love My Dog, i fell instantly in love with it. without further ado, this one's for Rudy and all the other four legged lovelies out there. happy friday!
singer, songwriter and activist Malvina Reynolds' most famous song, Little Boxes (made famous by the great Pete Seeger), recently enjoyed renewed popularity as the theme song for the showtime TV series Weeds - and thank goodness for that, 'cause that's how i first came across her music.
Malvina was born in San Francisco in 1900. she married a carpenter and labor organizer in 1934 -William "Bud" Reynolds- and the two had a child, Nancy Reynolds Schimmel, now a songwriter and performer herself. though refused her highschool diploma because of her parents' vocal opposition to World War I, Malvina went on to earn a doctorate in Romance Philology from Berkley in 1939, long before it was considered proper for women her age to return to school. it wasn't until her late 40s, after meeting Pete Seeger and other folk singers, that Malvina began writing songs in earnest. Malvina's songs have since been recorded by Joan Baez, Judy Collins, Pete Seeger, the Seekers, Harry Belafonte and Elvis Costello, among others.
Malvina wrote songs for Women for Peace, the Nestle Boycott, the sit-ins in San Francisco on auto row and at the Sheraton-Palace, the fight against putting a freeway through Golden Gate Park and other causes. she wrote songs for children and contributed material to PBS's Sesame Street, on which she made occasional appearances as a character named Kate. when Malvina passed away in 1978, the world lost an extraordinary and inspirational human being, who lived as an example that it's never too late to discover and pursue your passions, that it's cool to be smart and to express your opinions and that blindly conforming to the status quo will only prevent you from truly becoming yourself. thank you Malvina!
if you'd like to know more about Malvina, check out her daughter's blog about writing her mother's biography.
this last one is a short song that you must listen to all the way to the end. the last verse makes me want to cry.
k, so i don't know much about skateboarding, but my husband knows enough for both of us. he tells me that Rodney Mullen invented this style of street skating, and that mr. Mullen 'destroys' the young man in the video above. just so ya know. that aside, i happen to think this is the coolest skate video i have ever laid eyes on. the music, the clothes, the fluidity and fred-astaire-like grace of Killian's moves. i've watched this thing like five times already. i could watch it all day long.
i arose this morning in a dreadful state of melancholy, only to find out when i checked my facebook page that today is what's known as "blue monday". this is the first i've heard of it, but it seems some british dude has worked out some kind of 'scientific' formula by which he's devised that today is the most depressing day of the year. sounds like a load o malarkey to me. neverthless, i've had a terrible time trying to shake the blues today. so, in defiance of this silly man's silly theory, i hit the internet in search of a little piece of joy to make me feel better. and i found one:
k, so four is likely too many videos for one post, but i could not decide which one to post here 'cuz i just discovered Phosphorescent last week and i'm kinda freaking out a bit. hailing from Athens Georgia, Mathew Houck is the brilliant singer songwriter at the center of this project. they've been around for years, i just didn't know it 'til now. all that waisted time! dude even did a whole album of Willy Nelson covers. be still, heart.
sadly, Ari Up, lead singer of reggae-punk band the Slits passed away on wednesday at the age of 48. so for today's edition of video vendredi, i thought it fitting to pay a little tribute to this peculiar pioneer. enjoy. and feel free to jump around if you are so moved.
my mind is a virtual jukebox on most days. i know not who or what is pushing the buttons, but there's usually a random song playing in there at any given moment. this particular moment, for whatever reason, i am visited by my favourite Kings of Convenience song, so i thought i'd share it with you all. pretty much all of their songs are extraordinarily lovely, but this one remains my absolute favourite. may it play in your mental jukeboxes often. xo.
happy friday everybody! dunno why i chose this video, i'm just liking the sound right now. i was supposed to be going to see the Charlatans tonight at Lee's Palace, but the drummer has been hospitalized for exhaustion, so i'm afraid it's been postponed. i figure i'll post one o' their songs when the new date comes around. but the weekend is not lost! i'm heading to Niagara Falls tomorrow with my best buds and ima take lots n lots o photos which i shall post upon my return. WEEEEEEEE!! have a fabulous weekend kids!
